Chapter 5: Reach Beneath the City

  The underground tunnels beneath Astra stretched far beyond what Alex had imagined. The air was damp but rich with the scent of earth, a strange comfort despite the circumstances. The deeper they went, the more the darkness gave way to an eerie, phosphorescent glow. The cavern walls were embedded with veins of luminescent blue crystal, pulsing with a soft light that made the pce feel alive.

  “Shit,” Elias whistled, his eyes dancing with reflected blue light. “Didn’t know we’d stumbled into the kingdom of the glowing rock people.”

  Cy, leading the way, didn’t even gnce back. “Magic isn’t some divine gift from the gods, d. It’s in the nd. Always has been.” He gestured at the glowing walls. “These crystals are why magic exists at all.”

  Jasmine let out a slow breath, tracing her fingers along a jagged piece of crystal jutting from the rock. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Yeah,” Elias agreed, smirking. “Like you in the morning, Jas. Radiant, mysterious, and definitely able to drown someone alive.”

  Jasmine rolled her eyes. “One time, Elias. I pushed you under the water one time—”

  “You did more than push me under the water, love. I smelled like cinnamon for a week.”

  Cy cleared his throat, clearly unimpressed with the banter. “Enough. We don’t have time to stand around fraternizing.”

  They pressed forward, past narrow tunnels and into a vast underground city of stone dwellings and market stalls. People bustled through the streets, carrying supplies, whispering to one another as they caught sight of the newcomers. The rebels had made a life for themselves down here, hidden from the Mad King’s watchful eye.

  At the center of it all and under the glow blue hum of the mysterious crystals, inside a great stone hall, the Council of Rebels gathered.

  Cy took his seat at the head of the table, fixing the trio with a measured gaze. “I don’t think I need to tell you what you did up there changed everything.” His voice was heavy, like a man carrying too much weight. “The people are ready to fight, but if we’re going to take Astra, we need strategy, not just magic.”

  A voice interrupted from the back. A man with silver-streaked hair and dark eyes stepped forward. “You’re asking for strategy, Cy?” He chuckled darkly. “Have we forgotten what the st rebellion looked like? Magic didn’t win it then, and it won’t win it now.”

  Cy’s eyes narrowed. “And what would you suggest, Arlen?”

  Arlen crossed his arms, a sneer tugging at his lips. “Patience. Wait him out. A few more months, and the Mad King will implode on his own. His grip’s slipping. His mages are all vying for power.”

  Jasmine, who had been silent, now spoke up with quiet intensity. “And how many more lives are you willing to sacrifice for that ‘patience’? The people can’t wait. They’re desperate.”

  Arlen’s gaze shifted to her, his skepticism clear. “And what? You think the younger mages can do what your elders failed to do? Pull us out of this pit with a few spells? All you’ll do is feed the shadows more.”

  Elias scoffed from his seat beside Alex. “Well, we did just pull over a dozen people out of a burning building just a few days ago.” He grinned. “Pretty impressive, I’d say.”

  Arlen’s eyes darkened. “One fire. One small victory. Let’s see you face the Mad King’s full wrath.”

  Cy raised a hand to silence the room. “Enough. This isn’t the time for petty bickering.”

  Mammon, a broad-shouldered woman with thick dark braids streaked with silver, spoke up, her voice like a low growl. “I agree with Cy. A fight’s coming, whether we’re ready or not.” She gnced at the others around the table, her gaze resting on Elias with a grin. “Let’s make sure we’re not waiting for a chance that never comes.”

  Jasmine added, “We can’t just wait. We have the power. We have the will. We need a pn that uses both.”

  Arlen shook his head. “Foolishness. Magic can’t win this. Not without blood. The King’s already soaked in it.”

  Alex stayed quiet, his gaze flickering from one person to the next, weighing their words.

  Elias, ever the one to break tension, leaned back in his chair, kicking his boots up onto the table. “So, when do we start? Or are we all just going to sit around discussing theory all day?”

  Cy gred at him. “When I say we do.”

  Elias sighed dramatically. “Such bossy dwarves you all are.”

  Alex finally spoke. “It’s the only way to survive.”

  Cy looked at him sharply, but Alex didn’t eborate. He just stared at the table, lost in thought.

  After days of pnning and training, the rebels took a rest day. For the first time in weeks, there was quiet.

  Jasmine found Elias in one of the small underground springs, perched on a stone ledge, soaking his injured leg. She knelt beside him, rolling up her sleeves. “It’s time I finish healing this.”

  Elias smirked. “Just don’t charge me extra for the special treatment.”

  Jasmine dipped her hands into the warm water, channeling her magic into his leg. The glow of healing energy filled the cavern, wrapping around his injury like golden vines. Elias let out a slow breath, his usual smirk softening into something more genuine.

  “You’re amazing, you know that?”

  Jasmine chuckled. “You’ve mentioned it once or twice.”

  His fingers brushed against hers, a small, hesitant touch. “Yeah, well. I mean it.”

  She met his gaze, something unspoken passing between them. Then Elias, grinning like a fool, scooted over and patted the water next to him. “Hey, Alex! Bath’s big enough for three.”

  Alex, who had just stepped into the cavern, blinked. “Pass.”

  Elias shrugged. “Your loss.” He turned back to Jasmine, murmuring something too low for Alex to hear before pulling her into a kiss.

  Alex sighed and walked away.

  Later, when he found his own bath, he sank into the warm water, letting it swallow his exhaustion. His thoughts drifted into a dream: Visions of burning cities, voices whispering from the fmes, a bck crystal burning in his mind’s eye. But then, for the first time in weeks, something different.

  A peaceful nd stretched before him, bathed in the soft glow of dawn. The air was heavy with the scent of rain and wildflowers, the grass soft and cool beneath his feet. It should have been a sanctuary, but the emptiness gnawed at him. The beauty felt hollow without anyone to share it with.

  He knelt beside a spring, the water clear and inviting. He touched it, feeling the warmth of its healing flow, yet his chest tightened. It was too intimate, too soft. The waters curled around his fingers like a promise—a promise he wasn’t sure he could accept.

  A fleeting thought crossed his mind: If I let myself fall in, will it drown me or save me?

  The dream shifted, the peaceful ndscape blurring into the flickering shadows of distant fmes. But these fmes were different—warm, comforting, like a touch he couldn’t quite bring himself to reach.